On the train, the women looked at each other, and looked away, out the window, before they could burst out laughing.
They heard the ruckus on the roof that suggested a last minute addition was joining their party. Both of them tensed, trying desperately to control their expressions. When the door slid open and the white haired boy waved lightheartedly at them, they relaxed.
"For some unknowable reason…" The boy gave a sweet smile, "our acting didn't quite fool your brother. So he assigned me to meet that sword wielding ball of gloom on a mission just a bit farther than you're going. I guess I'm your chaperone."
"So… Why did you cover for us?" Lenalee eventually said, when she'd found her voice.
"Do I need to explain not telling a story that's not mine to tell?"
"Yes"
"Well honestly, I didn't want to be killed in the overly painful way your brother would have devised for me if I'd said I had walked in on you and the new girl. I swear, I was just trying to figure out what the sound was."
"That I believe." Lenalee said, relaxing a bit more. "But you're acting like you're not phased…"
He looked around in confusion "Am I supposed to be confused by a workplace romance?"
Lenalee had to look away from the earnest face "Well… it's just… it's not exactly... proper."
"Lenalee Lee, You are talking to someone who was raised in the Circus, and then by General Cross… propriety is not exactly something I have a good grasp of…"
Miranda's face was bright red despite her silence "Yes you do… You're always really polite and…"
"Polite?" Allen laughed his gaze turning inward, voice growing thoughtful "Politesse is a safety net. If you don't use it you look dazzling, but only until the trapeze breaks. Propriety is the cage where they keep the tigers. It can make you feel safe, or trap you. Depending on who you are…" he trailed off. When he came back his smile was too bright and he rubbed at his eyes. "Anyways, that's how Mana explained it to me…"
"…you… you must miss the circus a lot…" Miranda ventured.
Allen shrugged. "As if. We're still jumping through hoops, there's just a bit less facepaint, and slightly smaller cages." He said, harshly.
"What? Where did that come from? It doesn't sound like you." Lenalee said, sensing something wrong, but unable to put her finger on it.
"I said that Mana said it… What's so confusing about…"
"No the thing after that…"
"Lenalee… are you feeling okay?" There was no lie on his face. He either was being totally honest about not knowing of the words which sounded so unlike him, or he was using one hell of a poker face.
They passed an uneventful dozen hours in that tiny moving box. Against all Miranda's expectations, no demons attacked, the train did not explode due to its contact with her and her bad luck, Sky-Pirates remained stubbornly non-existent, and eventually, her imagination gave in, letting her drift off to sleep against her… lover's shoulder.
She woke to the violence of a train pulling into their station. That especially recognizeable moment that tells you your destination is close by, and doesn't let you sleep through it, even though you've peacefully ignored a hundred stops before this. She was also aware, painfully aware, of the arms around her keeping her from falling into the lap of the boy across the aisle.
The path from the village with its to the convent was far from scenic, but well-trodden, at the side of the road was the usual litter that was evidence that humans had, indeed been here in passing, had eaten, laughed, been forgetful, and continued on. Thankfully someone seemed to have taken it upon themselves to clear the evidence that horses had been here into the bushes.
Lenalee punched playfully at Miranda's arm, nearly knocking her off the path. "Why so glum?" she had her head to one side trying to see into the adorably embarrassed face of the other. "It's a nice day. We're on a relatively routine mission. We're aaall alone for now, which means we're as safe as we'll ever be. And with Allen on our side we've got a good…" She paused to do the math "Seventh of all the Exorcists in the world supporting our relationship already."
Relationship? She's already calling it a relationship? Wait, didn't Allen call it a romance? This was all moving too quickly, it was going to go wrong if it was too easy… Miranda's thoughts started to spiral into oblivion, only to be halted by the easy smile on the other's face, which caused the girl's eyes to shine and crinkle at the corners. This was easy… informal… and bright. She could see a certain uncertainty in Lena's posture. Like she wasn't used to being alone with another woman and wasn't quite sure how to act. Each action followed by a slight recoil of surprise when it wasn't rejected. This is as hard for her as for me, isn't it? She thought, and somehow it calmed her.
"Oh, It's nothing… It's just… I'm kind of forgetful and…"
"And what?" Lena held up her travelling bag. "I probably have whatever you need."
"… and I'm starting to think I should have asked Johnny to make some design changes to this uniform."
"What do you mean?" Lena looked her up and down the well-fitting jacket and pants drew all sorts of stares from townsfolk not used to seeing a woman in men's clothing, but a mix of respect for the exorcist badge, and healthy fear of the protectiveness that excessive staring brought out in Lenalee, meant that few people commented. Just like in the male uniforms, the black sections seemed to close them in, while the white stripes drew the eye and framed important areas, like the badge, and chevrons. The only strange thing was how thick white stripes on the inside of the pant legs drew the eyes to… The inner thighs of the pants, which were white… "Oh… OHH… I see… damn…"
"Yeah, you know how it is… you don't think about these things until… and even if I had it, there's not really enough room under this for my belt…"
Lenalee had stopped and was rifling through her carpet bag. "hmm… I'm sure I brought some of these with me when I… Ah here they are!" She tossed Miranda a small black bag.
"What are…"
"I believe they're called tampions in French. I found some fairly ineffective ones meant for stoppering bullet wounds, and I… well, I had the guys in the science department work on them."
"I… I think I get the picture…" Miranda was blushing furiously… "Thanks."
"Some of the guys think I get shot an awful lot." Lena laughed affectionately "considering how clever they are, they sometimes have very selective perceptions."
"I… I can imagine…"
"Do you want to find a spot to rest and-"
"NO…. It's not urgent… err… thank you…"
Lenalee smiled brightly, "Then lets go! It's a long hike, but I couldn't ask for better company." The girl seemed to take pleasure in saying things like that, which pulled Mira, out of her thoughts, leaving her vaguely admiring.
They walked the rest of the way in silence, one not knowing what to say, and the other having nothing that needed to be said. As they got closer to the looming medieval building, they could make out a strange, vaguely humanoid figure, halfway up a tree. The figure, as it grew in detail, turned out to be a nun, her skirts tied up around her knees to allow her to climb easier with a huge pair of shears.
Miranda flinched as a branch half the width of her arm toppled onto the path in front of her. The Sister seemed as startled to see them as they were to see her.
She scrambled back down the branches and jumped when she was low enough to land safely. She started fussing over them, making sure they were okay, and apologizing profusely for being caught working on something as potentially embarrassing. She fussed until she recognized the starburst badges they both wore. "Oh, I see… so you're here for the Anchorite…"
"Yes. We are, could you tell us about her?"
"I don't know much 'bout it… it's creepy, but pilgrimage for 'er is all that's keeping us afloat… You're going to have to pull every bit of authority you have, with the Mother, because with Magda gone, this place isn't going to last."
"What makes it creepy?" Miranda asked, before realizing that her definitions of normal had shifted drastically from the norm.
"W-Well it's still talking isn't it? The bones dried up and got taken away by animals a hundred years ago, but she's still jabbering her gibberish as if she was alive!" the sister said getting faster and faster with every word. "She was born with a devil's mark but she didn't want it, so she got made an anchorite, last rites and mortar for the poor little girl, and she grew taller than her cell, so she never stood up straight in her life, and she'd get food for nonsense, being the illiterate girl that she was, and she died like that."
Lenalee and Miranda exchanged a look. "Were there any strange stories about what happened to people who came to see her?" Lenalee asked.
The Sister motioned for them to follow her as she led them around the convent and in through a side door, trying to calm her speech. "Yeah, that's why I say it's the Devil's mark, not a miracle." She paused "They say that when she speaks in tongues, she turns people into monsters. They follow her commands, and went off to Hell to do her bidding there."
Another look between the exorcists "Well you weren't harbouring a demon. That's all we can tell you to calm you about this."
"Wait what? If she's not a demon then what is she?"
"One of us" Miranda said, "One who slipped through the cracks"
"Lucky girl" Lenalee muttered sullenly. Not noticing the looming presence in front of them.
"No one here is one of you." The figure said harshly, glaring at the hands of the exorcists which had found each other during the winding journey and were holding on by fingertips. Miranda snatched her hands away and held them tight to her chest trying to suppress a blush.
Lenalee left hers at her side, though her eyes narrowed in anger. Who did this woman think she was, talking down to apostles? "So no one here is on God's side in this apocalyptic battle. Thank you for being so forthright. You just made our jobs a lot easier." She said in a sweet growl.
Miranda gulped. "Nononono we didn't mean…"
Lenalee invoked her innocence.
The woman was not going to stand down, a young woman seething with rage evidently did not rank on her list of people whose authority she would respect. "Don't be ridiculous, girl, of course I am on God's side! But I run this establishment, and maintaining the health and purity of these young women is my job. If you think I cannot spot your kind you are sadly mistaken."
"My kind?!"
"Yes your kind! Now unless you have actual business here, leave, and spread your lies somewhere else"
Miranda who was shivering with nerves suddenly realized a way out of this. She started digging through papers that had been given to them without any semblance of order.
Meanwhile, Lena hadn't given up her stance "What lies would those be?"
"God would never give up apostles to this modern sickness."
"What sickness is this, pray tell? I can assure you we"
"WE HAVE BUSINESS FROM THE ORDER" Miranda was panting from the effort and holding out a slightly crumpled piece of paper at arms length, cringing her head into her neck and closing her eyes defensively. The paper was snatched from her hands and carefully examined, the seal, and the signatures scrutinized, searching for any sign of forgery.
Lenalee froze and deactivated her innocence. Coming down off her anger.
The Mother gave a tight little snort of disapproval before waving over a sister "very well then, show them to their rooms"
"one will be sufficient" Lenalee said, much more calmly, while looking at the stress their fight was putting on Miranda.
"No it will not, we do not wish to risk any scandal coming down on us, You will be treated as one of our own."
"No, mother, you must understand, we live very dangerous lives, and one of us must be on watch for the other's safety at all times. It is protocol, not my call to make."
"Oh but I insist."
"No I insist, protocol when someone attempts to separate us is to treat them with suspicion and question them about their involvement with the demonic world."
The mother's resistance visibly faded as she was forced to submit to Lenalee's force of will. "Fine, take them to their room. They can investigate St. Magda when the festival is over."
When they were out of earshot, the sister who was guiding them let out a long sigh of relief. "I've never seen anyone stand up to the Mother Superior for so long" she said with just a hint of admiration.
"Really? It wasn't even very heated…" Lenalee said, as her mind wandered. She ignored the incredulous stares of the other two.
Miranda hesitantly spoke up "Lena… it was… if you'd been Kanda you'd be a murderer by now…"
Lena was still slightly absent… "Hmm… if things get messy here do you think we could call in Kanda, I mean if he wore that kimono of his and put his hair down he might pass as…"
The sister guiding them suppressed a laugh. "Mistresses Exorcists, here is your room, if there is anything you need, please ask, I… I know I shouldn't, but I wish you were able to stay with us for longer than a few days." She blushed a bit "I'm sincerely sorry for how you've been treated."
Lenalee patted the girl on the head "Don't worry about it. It'll take more than this to wear us down."
The girl smiled shyly. "I'll leave you to it then… it's late and I need to go learn the hymns for the festival tomorrow… don't tell the mother I left it this long, Please"
"Your secret's safe with us," Lenalee said, entering the room, after Miranda and closing the door. The room was small, with thick walls a thin tall window without glass but with a wooden shutter. It would be the perfect place for someone to ambush someone who got her strength from ease of movement.
Miranda had already thrown herself down on the hard, short, bed that occupied one wall of the room. "Oh thank the heavens that's over with…" she sighed.
"Its only just begun."
"You think?"
"Yes."
"Then you… You really shouldn't have… I mean… I'm not worth…"
"Defending? Miranda, It is my pleasure to protect you."
"but if it's just going to cause more issues…"
"It's not" Lena sat down on the edge of the bed near Miranda's head. "Come on, sit up, let me help you get ready for bed."
Miranda did as she was told, slightly embarrassed in the silence broken only by the tiny noises of a comb sliding along her scalp. The intimate movements were soothing but made her nervous. "I'm sorry" she murmured.
"Don't be."
"No… I…"
"Listen," Lenalee said in her lowest audible voice "the only thing I'd never forgive you for wouldn't give you the opportunity to apologize. Compared to that this is nothing."
"I still can't just…"
"BUT, don't put yourself in unnecessary danger."
"What? I wasn't…"
"Because they were 'just words'"
"Right…"
Lenalee tensed and tried not to be as rough on Miranda's hair as her stress wanted her to be "right… because poison, slowly administered, invisible, seeping through veins and becoming part of your tissues could never hurt you."
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh nothing." Lenalee said, calmly braiding Miranda's hair "I'm not going to let you get away with not defending yourself from now on, though. If it helps to think that you are defending me then do it. Anyone who insults the person that I have chosen is insulting me, and you wouldn't stand for that." She leaned in and gave a light peck on the now exposed ear. "But if you let poisoned words go unrefuted you allow them in"
"I've been called names all my life though… it's not that…"
"Mira," Lenalee's voice had a note of sadness in it, and her hands stopped moving. "Smoldering despair is what lets people get talked out of their lives." Lenalee crawled around on the bed until she was sitting up in Miranda's lap. She put a hand to the woman's chin, and taking note of the small nervous smile that emerged as Miranda's eyes darted to her lips, she tilted her head and leaned in closer, inviting Miranda to kiss her. Miranda did, hesitantly, not knowing what to do after first contact. Then Lena pulled away, still too soon. It would probably always be too soon, even with clumsy affection. "Get some rest". She said, even though tiredness danced in the fluttering of her eyelids, desperate to stay awake.
"I slept on the train though. You should sleep."
"I'm sure that ride was very restful." Sarcasm dripped off the girl's words. "besides, I've got a book to read. While I keep watch." She got off the bed, dug through her bag until she found a small book written in Chinese. She blushed slightly "It'll keep me entertained…" she said, "I'll wake you in a couple hours. Okay?"
"Okay." Miranda yawned. It was strange. How silly Lenalee is being. She thought fuzzily. I'll never fall asleep in this state… I've run on much less sleep… so many times… all those times I felt… The thought trailed off as her perception of the world faded away.
…
…
…
She woke slowly, hazily, to the distant sound of singing. Soft candlelight emanating from the corner of the room illuminated the peaceful scene of the most amazing woman Miranda could imagine, peacefully reading and idly waving her free hand over the tiny flame for the warmth. She admired for a few moments before Lena registered the change in atmosphere and smiled gently, tiredly at her.
"Hey Sleeping Beauty." She said "I was about to wake you up, it's your turn to keep watch."
"Is there…" there was a clatter. A nail had fallen out of the candle, into the little brass dish.
Lena laughed quietly, "and there goes the alarm."
"Is there really a chance that anything bad will come along?"
"As high as we ever have." Lena said vaguely, sticking the nail farther down the taper. "So that should be about three hours. Wake me up then. Did you think to bring anything to keep yourself busy?" She walked over to the bed and sat down on the side of it.
"I…I thought we wouldn't have time to be idle." Miranda Blushed, and Lena kissed the top of her head.
"Aww… Mira… Always bring a book with you, first rule of travelling for work." She said sympathetically.
"What about that one you had, could I…?"
Lena grabbed the book and opened it to a random page, "Can you read this?" the book was written in Chinese. Mira, indeed couldn't understand a word.
"What… what's it about?" she asked.
Lena scratched at the back of her head… "Wellllll…"
"If you don't want to say that's…"
"No, it's just that Lavi grabbed one of these from me once and turned bright red when he realized what it was."
Miranda looked at it for incriminating details. All she saw was a little publisher's stamp that looked like a fruit of some sort with a bite out of it. "W-what is it?"
"It's a romance… I'll tell you more in the morning, I really do need to sleep."
Miranda took her place on the chair. The singing really was relaxing. Was it really still time for hymns? As Lenalee settled in to sleep, she started to hum along to the sound, quietly and encouraged by a smile and a comfortable snuggling, hugging the blanket.
The lights in a far room, barely visible from their window, dimmed and one light moved through the hallways. The sound continued unchanged, into the small hours of the morning.
Mira long ago found herself in a vague trance from the singing. She thought of practicing with her innocence. She tried very small things. Freezing the candle flame. Creating bubbles of stopped time around the middle of the candle so that dripping wax took new directions and cooled.
Eventually she just sat and listened. She didn't know what she'd expected, that they'd be fighting nonstop once they got here? That they somehow would not need to sleep due to rushes of adrenaline?… She had never expected that she'd be sitting around looking for something to do. Never expected that the option of watching her lover sleep would be the most difficult thing to refuse to do.
Whoever was singing is really tireless. How does she do it?
After a time which was shorter than it felt like, but longer than anticipated, the sun rose quietly, unobtrusively, bringing her out of her trance. She became aware of a strange weak sound which interrupted the peace of the song. She looked towards where she heard it from, and saw, tiny, but recognizable, the explosion of an exorcised demon.
She ran over the bed and accidentally landed on Lena, who had pinned her down before she even opened her eyes, out of reflex. "Oh… good morning, dear. Sorry about that."
"No… not a problem…" Miranda said, disoriented "There's… well there was… I don't really know… but demons… a demon…"
"Was?"
"Yeah, I just saw it get exorcised."
"But we both…"
"I know."
"We need to investigate this."
"That's why I woke you up."
Lena smiled "Good thinking, love." And she released Mira and climbed out of bed, pulling her long dress on.
Miranda lay for a few seconds, staring at the ceiling, piecing apart the blur of movement that led to her position. Her cheeks flushed slightly, before she suppressed thoughts and tried to focus on the task at hand. Hand… there was a hand extended to her.
"You remember where it was, I trust?" Lena said patiently.
"Umm… I think so" Mira bit her lip, nervously, before letting Lena help her up.
They made their way around the convent as quietly as they could manage. Thankfully they encountered no resistance in sneaking outside. When Miranda was certain that they were near where they had to be, she stopped. There were pilgrims standing around the anchorage, in the pale dawn's light, but no sisters attending to them.
Lena held a hand out to Miranda, pointing to the dress she wore to hide her uniform. "Back me up" she whispered, before walking off without a backward glance. Miranda hid, just close enough to hear what was being said, and activated her innocence in readiness. Not that she knew how she could back up Lena with only a support skill.
"My good fellows why are you here so early in the morning." Lena said, jovially. The nearest man glared at her, he had a migraine, judging by the way he persistently rubbed at one spot of his head the entire time. "Is no one going to answer me?"
"Ain't you here for the same reason?" A woman standing behind migraine man demanded.
"Oh, no, I'm new to the convent, I simply wondered why your needs were not being met." It would be shameful if we let our pilgrims want once they made the long trek up here, in the darkness no less."
The glaring man considered for a second, looking her up and down, from her hair to the slit in the side of her otherwise respectable skirt. "You don't look like a nun." He snarled.
"Oh well when I say new, I mean very new. They haven't found me a habit that fits yet."
"hmmph"
The woman looked at her even more suspiciously as the man turned away. The pilgrims seemed to be keeping their distance from the anchorage, one gave a distinctly venomous glance at Lena and then threw a few coins into the anchorage. Lena walked toward the object of hesitant devotion, and gestured to the assembled people. "No need to be shy, our saint Magda won't bite." She laughed.
The people who were gathered around eyed each other. Some sort of deception was flashing in all of their eyes.
Miranda wanted to yell to Lena to get out of there, that it was too dangerous to rely on someone like Miranda. Her inability to trust her own ability to provide support did not overcome her trust that Lena knew what she was doing, so she stayed silent.
The man with the migraine took a tiny step forward as Lena's head was peeking into the anchorage innocently. He started to change against his own will, monstrously, painfully, reverting into his demonic form. He raised an arm to begin shooting. If he was going down, he wasn't going to go down hungry.
"LOOK OUT" Mira yelled, and froze the demon in his own bubble of time.
Lena smirked "I knew it"
The other travelers gaped for a second. Then the suspicious woman snarled "Exorcists"
Lenalee activated her innocence. Miranda ran to stand back to back with Lenalee.
All of the travelers began to change as they saw the others of their number reveal their identities. They were grunts, hardly even target practice, but there were many of them. Lena whispered, "Stay close to the wall, Magda's fighting with us."
"Wait, what?" Mira said as she felt a renewed awareness of the chanting she'd heard all night, coming from behind her, and growing in intensity. Lena jumped off, and took out a demon in a smooth movement. Miranda let the demon she had been holding go, and focused on forming a field to give Lena energy.
That didn't work.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw a gun being levelled at Lena's dancing form.
Before she could process the decision, time had stopped around the top half of the demon and the bottom slid away. Pulled by gravity, and exploded like the others.
Another was trying to get as close to Mira as possible without actually getting near the anchorage's window. Miranda had no idea what she had just done. She had no idea how to replicate it, so she raised a shield for herself and called to Lena, who was finishing off the penultimate remaining demon. Coming to the rescue, the girls dropped their defences, and in the light of the last explosion, Lenalee fell into Miranda's arms.
When they'd caught their breath Miranda said "Thank you! You saved me again!"
"Excuse me! I believe that's my line." Lena pressed kisses into the top of Mira's head "Don't think I didn't see that little stunt" She looked Miranda over "Its an offensive power too. Miranda, you never cease to amaze."
Mira was blushing "…not…" she started but then she looked into Lenalee's expression of amused disapproval "I mean… You asked me to watch your back. It's not worth praise that I did." She watched the disapproval disappear from the features, and felt her own words reach inside her and run through her veins warmly. She squeezed Lena, and let her go, returning to the task at hand. They looked into the gloom of the tiny, doorless room.
The small glowing dot in the gloom of the anchorage indeed looked like innocence. But if you weren't looking for innocence, all there would be was the sounds of chanting, showing up in your head as if it were your own thoughts.
Lenalee tried to squeeze through the small window, but couldn't manage it. Backing away to look at it like she was trying to solve a puzzle, she came to a conclusion.
"Shouldn't we go get the…"
KEUSHHHdadadata
Lenalee had simply kicked at one side of the smaller building. Making the wall collapse. She ducked inside, and ignored the shocked noises coming from Miranda.
"It lasted 500 years. It would have lasted another hour…"
"There was a fight." Lenalee said, searching through the rubble. Finding the object of her search as the roof started to slouch. Miranda set a shield above Lena's head, and the falling slate and timber slid off the anomaly. "It's not the first time we've had collateral damage in a battle…. Oh eww… did you bring the vial for innocence?"
Miranda looked through her pockets, eventually finding it, and handing it to Lenalee. "I… don't like the deception…"
Lena grimaced as small triangular thing, made of an extremely familiar red, flakey flesh, prominently bearing a cross, into the vial "It's not as though this kind of deception is that bad, comparatively…" The noise had attracted attention from the sisters, and they could hear frantic footsteps coming towards them "Mira, do you still have that warrant on you?"
"No…"
"alright." Lena took off her overdress, put the innocence vial in a pocket on her belt, and unfastened the starburst badge from her chest.
As the first of the sisters came into their line of sight Lena put on a posture that everyone who had seen her argument with the Mother Superior would know to take seriously.
"What… What did you do to the anchorage?!"
"There was a battle, I'm sorry I could not shield your building. Now I need to speak with the Mother Superior" she barked her orders and those low enough in the hierarchy to not want trouble to directly affect them, scurried off to fulfill them.
When they had managed to wake up, and calm down, the Mother Superior they brought her in front of Lenalee who was getting colder and more unapproachable by the second.
"What is the meaning of this?" The Mother superior demanded.
"By the power I hold as a disciple, and exorcist of the Black Order, I am closing this establishment."
"On what grounds?!"
"Your only pilgrims were demons, trying unsuccessfully to remove your protection."
"Those demons have been extremely generous to the church in the last few centuries, then." Mother superior said between clenched teeth "Surely we can find it in our hearts to forgive such repentant sinners"
"Your protecting saint has departed this place, but the demons do not know that. They will come, and it will be a bloodbath if nothing is here to destroy them."
"How dare you imply that about our Saint Magda."
"Your Saint Magda was one of us, and as such her power belongs to the Order." Lenalee fought to control her breathing. "She can save many more people when her power's new bearer is found. Would you put your own profit above their lives?"
The Mother Superior gave in to that. She sighed. "Do as you will. I will start making calls to relocate our girls."
Miranda shook her hands palm out in front of her, "No, that's not necessary, the Order can take care of finding you accomodation!"
"Young women," The defeated Mother Superior sighed, "Give me the one mercy of allowing me to retain my responsibilities. We will bid our beloved buildings farewell if our lives are imperiled. Please do not take us for unreasonable women."
…
And it was done.
All that was left was to bring the innocence back home. The long ride back to the Black Order's European headquarters was more private than the ride to had been. They took the time to laugh, and talk about their worries; question what would be said if accusations, of their having some newly invented sexual disorder, got back to the Order… however accurate those accusations may be.
"So, now that you've worked with me, what do you say? Should we try to get more missions together?" Lenalee asked vaguely, nearly nodding off in the train's compartment.
"D-don't ask silly questions…" Miranda turned away embarrassed as her lover fell asleep in her lap, a smile on her lips.
...
...
So my most weirdly political fic is back… apparently… along with Lenalee – mistress of harmless conspiracies
Blessed Yule, treat this as your Sabbat present from me. As it is how I occupied myself during the night's vigil.
Fun fact: For most of history most people who menstruated had very few recourses for sanitation. Many cultures just gave women the week off, had them hang out with the other women, in a designated space, and ritually reaffirm their spirituality for a week, while the household chores were done by other people for once. The Victorians didn't have this.
Victorian women wore many layers of dark coloured underwear and just, sort of, dealt with it. Near the end of the Victorian Period (Pun not intended) this device, which was sort of like a large diaper, held up by a metal belt, came into existence, though it was far from taking the world by storm.
Though tampons are known to have been used in Ancient Egypt, Rome, and Japan, the materials were not hugely absorbent, and I don't imagine hugely comfortable, or cheap enough for the average woman.
-Man has enough anachronism in it, though, that I feel safe in giving them this one mercy. If Kanda can have his damn Zippers, Mira and Lena can have this.
I noticed this trend of reading Lena as a Yaoi fangirl, so if you know what the "Bitten Peach" on the spine of her book is nodding towards.
The Doubtful the anchorite is entirely my own fabrication. I did enough research for this fic without turning this into historical fiction.